Chennai : The Edappadi Palaniswami-led Tamil Nadu government has denied permission to lay to rest former chief minister and Dravidian icon M Karunanidhi near Anna Memorial on the Marina beach, following which the DMK has moved the Madras High Court .

The High Court will hear the matter at 10:30 pm tonight. The state government while refusing permission has cited legal trouble and pending cases against burying political leaders by the beach.

Angry DMK cadre waiting outside the Kauvery Hospital raised slogans against the state government for disallowing the DMK’s wish to bury him in the Marina.

According to sources in the DMK, there was a wrangle last week with the state government about the place of burial for Karunanidhi. Even though he didn’t die as chief minister, Karunanidhi deserved a treatment meted out to former chief ministers and AIADMK leaders MG Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa, they felt.

“Look at other leaders such as Rajaji ( C Rajagopalachari, former chief minister) and others, they weren’t laid at the Marina” said a leader with the AIADMK.

A senior DMK leader said the government has been “dilly-dallying” for a while about giving permission for a Marina burial.

The mood outside the Kauvery Hospital turned hostile minutes after the goverment said in a statement that it was not possible to accommodate the wishes of the DMK.

It is also significant that the DMK had opposed the opening of a portrait of Jayalalithaa inside the state Assembly, in view that she was convicted in as assets case. Political analysts view that litigation as one of the reasons why the AIADMK does not wish to have Karunanidhi buried alongside other Dravidian stalwarts.